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Dear All:
First, I'd like to thank Suzanne and Todd for creating the new
lugnet.lego group and associated subgroups. I hope that this will make
it easier for everyone to find and read communications between The LEGO
Company and our enthusiasts -- particularly as we intend these
communications to be increasingly frequent in the months and years
ahead.
Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
baseplate, as it were).
I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so. We'll be
happy to answer questions - and we'll be asking some of you as well.
Please understand, however, that we can't address such juicy (yet taboo)
topics as upcoming but thus far undisclosed products and other such
"confidential" areas. We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
highlights:
· Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
soon after.
· When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
(e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
elements.
· Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
the first available elements will be published in early May.
· There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
(depending on the size of the element).
· As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
· It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
· In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
late this year or early in 2001.
That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
Play Well.
-- Brad
Brad Justus
Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
legodirect@lego.com
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In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
> our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
> elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
> manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
> highlights:
>
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
What about other countries, like Japan, Austrailia, and other places with large
LEGO fan communities?
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
> · As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
> much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
> is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
> SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
> Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
>
> That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
I can't wait!
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Alan Gerber writes:
> In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> >
> > · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> > soon after.
> What about other countries, like Japan, Austrailia, and other places with • large
> LEGO fan communities?
Can I second Alan's comment about Australia. We feel like a Lego backwater
down here with no 'Lego Shop At Home' and missing out on certain sets that
get released elsewhere.
> > · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> > will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more • unusual
> > elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> > each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> > At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> > our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> > cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> > certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> > from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> > that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> > to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> > will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> > production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> > commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> > late this year or early in 2001.
Maybe you could also publish a running total for each special element and
it's minimum production quota. That way people can order some more to get
that particular element 'over the line' and into production.
> > That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> > bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
We hope that Australian AFOL's can take part in this exciting development.
-pete.w.
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Peter White writes:
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Alan Gerber writes:
> > In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> > >
> > > Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow soon
> > > after.
> > What about other countries, like Japan, Austrailia, and other places with
> large LEGO fan communities?
>
> Can I second Alan's comment about Australia. We feel like a Lego backwater
> down here with no 'Lego Shop At Home' and missing out on certain sets that
> get released elsewhere.
I'll third that. Currently Aussie AFOL's feel about as loved as your average
BURP when it comes to recognition from TLC. When will we stop having to pick
up the 1x1 plates from under the US LEGO table??
Pete Callaway
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Peter Callaway writes:
> When will we stop having to pick
> up the 1x1 plates from under the US LEGO table??
So THAT'S where all of the little stuff that I drop goes! Seriously though,
I'd expect that once the web ordering comes together that AFOL's world-wide can
place orders. I'm just guess though, since I (unfortunately) do not work for
TLC.
Ben Roller
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Ben Roller writes:
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Peter Callaway writes:
> > When will we stop having to pick
> > up the 1x1 plates from under the US LEGO table??
<RANT>.................................................</RANT>
James (who so annoyed at Americocentric thinking he's incoherent)
P.S. Somebody remind these people they promised WORLDWIDE.
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James Howse <jehowse@yahoo.com> wrote:
> P.S. Somebody remind these people they promised WORLDWIDE.
They did. And they didn't say that it wouldn't be now. It's unfortunate, but
it does make sense to roll something like this out in limited markets and
then expand.
--
Matthew Miller ---> mattdm@mattdm.org
Quotes 'R' Us ---> http://quotes-r-us.org/
Boston University Linux ---> http://linux.bu.edu/
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> > P.S. Somebody remind these people they promised WORLDWIDE.
> They did. And they didn't say that it wouldn't be now. It's unfortunate, • but
> it does make sense to roll something like this out in limited markets and
> then expand.
Let's not forget that Brad mentioned that this service was being offered
through S@H until "the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com" was available
later in the year. One would imagine that the operation would be global at
that point.
Will
Lego Beach Department of Emergency Services
www.crosswinds.net/~hokie
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Excellent news! I do hope that in the near future we will be able to purchase
some landscaping items, like fences, flowers, and trees. I'm also happy to
hear you might offer discontinued pieces. Cypress trees anyone? Thanks for the
update!
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Mark Herzberg writes:
> Excellent news! I do hope that in the near future we will be able to purchase
> some landscaping items, like fences, flowers, and trees. I'm also happy to
> hear you might offer discontinued pieces. Cypress trees anyone? Thanks for the
> update!
Oh yeah! I'll buy that for a dollar. Cypress trees would definitely be near
the top of my list. Although, I don't think I could ever use a thousand.
Tiles! They would definitely be near the top of the list too.
Oh my, I could get carried away with this. The list is endless. <grin>
Tim Strutt 8^)
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Tim Strutt wrote:
>
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Mark Herzberg writes:
> > Excellent news! I do hope that in the near future we will be able to purchase
> > some landscaping items, like fences, flowers, and trees. I'm also happy to
> > hear you might offer discontinued pieces. Cypress trees anyone? Thanks for the
> > update!
>
> Oh yeah! I'll buy that for a dollar. Cypress trees would definitely be near
> the top of my list. Although, I don't think I could ever use a thousand.
> Tiles! They would definitely be near the top of the list too.
> Oh my, I could get carried away with this. The list is endless. <grin>
Oh, I think I could find a use for 1000 tiles... Look at Sanjay
D'Souza's Millenium City for some ideas...
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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I know we're not supposed to flood this group with a lot of 'thank yous'
and 'me too's, but I sure am excited about this news, and I'm sure that
everyone else is as well! Thanks!
I do have one question:
In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> ...
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> ...
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
How do these two points relate to each other? What is the minimum purchase?
If I order 50 to 100 of 20 different elements, does that qualify as a bulk
purchase? If I in addition purchase 2000 windows, say, will it now qualify as
a bulk purchase?
Just wondering.
--
David Schilling
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In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
Do you have rough pricing? Eg for a 2x4 red brick?
Will pricing involve a sliding scale? Eg, if there are any economies of scale
for shipping out 1000 same-type elements to one person, rather than shipping
100 same-type elements to 10 people.. will those savings be passed on to the
bulk-bulk buyer?
This would be nice, especially as I envisage US, and later European fans will
be redistributing pieces bulk-ordered from you, to those locations which you
don't yet cover!
> we will require a minimum aggregate order
Do you have any rough figures on what the minimum aggregate is?
I think that running the service monthly would be great if it could work, but I
am concerned that if you let us bulk order between 50-100 different elements
each month then we will have spent our LEGO budgets for the year within the
first few months :) I would personally still be overwhelmed at bi-monthly
ordering.
I infer that you'll be advertising the service in sold-in-stores sets, would
that mean a monthly catalogue mail-out, or is it going to be internet access
only?
Will the (non-LUGNET/RTL) public be able to vote for parts to be included each
month? If so - how? If this involves an internet piece-database of any kind
then great :)
Thanks,
Richard
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Richard Franks writes:
> Will the (non-LUGNET/RTL) public be able to vote for parts to be included each
> month? If so - how? If this involves an internet piece-database of any kind
> then great :)
How about voting on all parts which are not commonly available that are
required to build highly sought after classic sets like the 6067 Guarded Inn,
375 yellow castle, Galaxy Explorer or the Metroliner.
We have the instructions so we know what parts we need to build it.
Couple people could get together and each buy 100 (or the minimum quantity
required) of a certain part needed to build 100 guarded inns or yellow
castles. Then everybody would send all the parts to a middle person who will
use them to build the sets and sell them back to people who want them for far
below current auction prices. Instructions could be done in Ldraw or
downloaded from Brickshelf.
D.
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> How about voting on all parts which are not commonly available that are
> required to build highly sought after classic sets like the 6067 Guarded • Inn,
> 375 yellow castle, Galaxy Explorer or the Metroliner.
> We have the instructions so we know what parts we need to build it.
> Couple people could get together and each buy 100 (or the minimum quantity
> required) of a certain part needed to build 100 guarded inns or yellow
> castles. Then everybody would send all the parts to a middle person who • will
> use them to build the sets and sell them back to people who want them for • far
> below current auction prices. Instructions could be done in Ldraw or
> downloaded from Brickshelf.
I hate to rain on anyone's parade but I don't see this happening except in
the case of the Yellow Castle. Why not? All the other sets require PRINTED
elements which would greatly increase the manufacturing costs (and time).
Will
Lego Beach Department of Emergency Services
www.crosswinds.net/~hokie
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Will Hess writes:
> > How about voting on all parts which are not commonly available that are
> > required to build highly sought after classic sets like the 6067 Guarded • Inn,
> > 375 yellow castle, Galaxy Explorer or the Metroliner.
> > We have the instructions so we know what parts we need to build it.
> > Couple people could get together and each buy 100 (or the minimum quantity
> > required) of a certain part needed to build 100 guarded inns or yellow
> > castles. Then everybody would send all the parts to a middle person who • will
> > use them to build the sets and sell them back to people who want them for • far
> > below current auction prices. Instructions could be done in Ldraw or
> > downloaded from Brickshelf.
>
> I hate to rain on anyone's parade but I don't see this happening except in
> the case of the Yellow Castle. Why not? All the other sets require PRINTED
> elements which would greatly increase the manufacturing costs (and time).
Well, who says they can't make printed elements? For this idea to work, Lego
Direct would have to make pieces on request and for this to be worth it, we'd
have to look at the price of each element and how much it would cost
to "recreate" a classic set. If it would cost $100 worth of parts to make 1
guarded inn then forget it, might as well pick up a used one on eBay. It
would definitely be worth it to buy a guarged inn for let's say $40 than to
get a used one for 3 times as much.
I'd definitely take this idea into consideration and try to persue it but
seeing what kind of rating my original reply received, I don't think there
would be any interest at all.
D.
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Dan Jezek writes:
> If it would cost $100 worth of parts to make 1
> guarded inn then forget it, might as well pick up a used one on eBay. It
> would definitely be worth it to buy a guarged inn for let's say $40 than to
> get a used one for 3 times as much.
I've been thinking more along the lines of what Larry confirmed by saying
(paraphrased)"This is going to make the Guild's job a lot easier" - I think
we'll be seeing a **lot** more fan-created kits in the future. The guarded inn
is a cute set, but something like the Guild could create a whole new castle-
theme - each set rivaling the guarded inn and friends with creativity, piece
variation and playability. Original LEGO sets will always win in terms of
purist-collectors, but as each Guild set comes with a signed certificate from
the creator.. LEGO don't have the monopoly on that either!
It'll be interesting to see what happens to the much sought-after sets in the
near future - will LD subsume the need to get certain official sets for the
pieces? Will the Guild of Bricksmiths subsume the need for certain official
sets, as something to collect and display (and play with etc)?
If the answer is (at least partially) yes to both of these then I think we are
entering a new age of LEGO creativity (dramatic drum-roll!).
Richard
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D. Jezek wrote:
> > > How about voting on all parts which are not commonly available that are
> > > required to build highly sought after classic sets like the 6067 Guarded • Inn,
> > > 375 yellow castle, Galaxy Explorer or the Metroliner.
[snip]
in a later message:
> seeing what kind of rating my original reply received, I don't think there
> would be any interest at all.
I think it was a good idea. This comment makes me glad I read news in a
real newsreader and don't have my expectations colored by ratings.
It sounds like the ratings are more an indication of the people who rate
things
than of how interesting the post might be.
/Eric McC/
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Charles Eric McCarthy writes:
> I think it was a good idea. This comment makes me glad I read news in a
> real newsreader and don't have my expectations colored by ratings.
> It sounds like the ratings are more an indication of the people who rate
> things than of how interesting the post might be.
The ratings indicate a reaction and collective recommendation to read. In
the .lego.* groups, which are primarily intended as a communications link to
the LEGO Comapny (.lego.direct in paricular), their primary reason for
existing is to channel feedback to LEGO in a way that they can best use.
Thus, a suggestion deemed useless to LEGO (i.e., noise) might nevertheless be
a great suggestion and might receive a higher rating in a different group, for
example .general.
A post asking for the resurrection of Forestmen, for example, might be a great
suggestion, but its use to LEGO is nil -- nothing but pure noise -- a complete
and utter waste of bandwidth. If LEGO wants to bring Forestmen back, they'll
make that decision without us. If they wanted our input for product line
recommendations, they surely wouldn't waste their time reading one-of
suggestions and me-too's in text-based newsgroups.
I've only seen 3 or 4 messages so far to this group which (in my mind) might
be any use to LEGO, and the rest are just line noise -- but there's nothing
wrong with that(!) if the collective ratings end up helping Brad in the long
run. He can choose to ignore them and read everything, or start with the
higher rated ones and read through the lower rated ones later.
So far, the ratings seem to be working very well for this .lego.direct group,
at least so far as the numbers I'm seeing do agree well with the posts I'd
recommend to Brad. Brad of course would need to give us feedback on how well
we are rating things if before we could really know for sure.
--Todd
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Dan Jezek writes:
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Will Hess writes:
> > > How about voting on all parts which are not commonly available that are
> > > required to build highly sought after classic sets like the 6067 Guarded • Inn,
> > > 375 yellow castle, Galaxy Explorer or the Metroliner.
> > > We have the instructions so we know what parts we need to build it.
> > > Couple people could get together and each buy 100 (or the minimum quantity
> > > required) of a certain part needed to build 100 guarded inns or yellow
> > > castles. Then everybody would send all the parts to a middle person who • will
> > > use them to build the sets and sell them back to people who want them for • far
> > > below current auction prices. Instructions could be done in Ldraw or
> > > downloaded from Brickshelf.
> >
> > I hate to rain on anyone's parade but I don't see this happening except in
> > the case of the Yellow Castle. Why not? All the other sets require PRINTED
> > elements which would greatly increase the manufacturing costs (and time).
>
> Well, who says they can't make printed elements? For this idea to work, Lego
> Direct would have to make pieces on request and for this to be worth it, we'd
> have to look at the price of each element and how much it would cost
> to "recreate" a classic set. If it would cost $100
Not if they only made the hard to find pieces and the rest would be from a
normal collection
worth of parts to make 1
> guarded inn then forget it, might as well pick up a used one on eBay. It
> would definitely be worth it to buy a guarged inn for let's say $40 than to
> get a used one for 3 times as much.
> I'd definitely take this idea into consideration and try to persue it but
> seeing what kind of rating my original reply received, I don't think there
> would be any interest at all.
>
> D.
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> How about voting on all parts which are not commonly available that are
> required to build highly sought after classic sets like the 6067 Guarded Inn,
> 375 yellow castle, Galaxy Explorer or the Metroliner.
I'll wait to see the price of 2*4 bricks from LD, before I think about any
specials.
Scott A
> We have the instructions so we know what parts we need to build it.
> Couple people could get together and each buy 100 (or the minimum quantity
> required) of a certain part needed to build 100 guarded inns or yellow
> castles. Then everybody would send all the parts to a middle person who will
> use them to build the sets and sell them back to people who want them for far
> below current auction prices. Instructions could be done in Ldraw or
> downloaded from Brickshelf.
>
> D.
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In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
First, things really seem to be comming along but I do have a couple of
questions. (See Below)
>
> Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
> last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
> that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
> my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
> seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
> there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
> have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
> were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
> pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
> ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
> baseplate, as it were).
I really don't think you need to apologize. You said we would have ordering by
the end of the summer or there abouts so it looks like you are right on
schedule to me. I for one didn't think you were twiddling your thumbs so to
speak. I would rather you work hard to get bulk ordering done than spend
countless hours trying to post and respond to requests.
<snip>
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
This is my primary question...
What exactly constitutes an element in TLG's view?
For example is a 2x4 brick in any color considered a single element or does
each color variation of an piece constitute a different element?
I ask because I personally look forward to buying thousands of Gray, DkGray,
Tan, and Brown 1xX bricks. Mostly 1x4's and 1x2's but also the other lengths
as well. Obviously it makes a difference as to how excited I should be about
40 basic elements to kick off Bulk Ordering. If each color represents a
different element my hopes of being able to get these bricks to start out with
will be low but if a 1x4 brick in any color is an element I will be excited.
I personally have plenty of these bricks in the more basic colors of Red,
White, Yellow, Blue, and Black so being able to order these bricks does not
excite me quite as much.
<snip>
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
This sounds great!! With a forum such as LUGNET for communication I am sure we
can build up those quantities for special items to make it well worth your
while.
Thanks again,
Eric Kingsley
The New England LEGO Users Group
http://www.nelug.org/
View My Creations at:
http://www.nelug.org/members/kingsley/
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<snip>(Eric K said)
> I personally have plenty of these bricks in the more basic colors of Red,
> White, Yellow, Blue, and Black so being able to order these bricks does not
> excite me quite as much.
Eric said it almost perfectly. The "common" bricks (1x1,1x2,1x3,1x4,1x6,2x2,
2x3,2x4,2x6) are availabe in the "common" (Red, Blue, Black, White, Green,
Yellow) colours in the 1200 piece buckets. I doubt you can beat the price that
some of the bulk resellers manage even.
For example, one Lugnet member purchased 100+ of the buckets, and is selling
the 1x bricks from them. He purchased the buckets at $14 or so each, giving a
price per brick of around 1.2 cents (his purchase price). I do not see L@D
managing to sell bricks at this low a price. Please, don't aim at a market
that there is some competition for already, aim for one that we cannot fill
ourselves.
> (Brad J said)<snip>
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic elements
> (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round. In addition to this
> evergreen group, we are creating a system that will allow us to offer a set
> (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual elements each month.
This sounds _great_. I know a little of the economics of injection molding,
and as such I hope you have CAD/CAM files for the parts, especially the older
ones like the pitchfork (classic). Please, do not veto parts because they are
currently "collectable", the reason why the price is so high on some of the
parts is because they are unavailable. As regards the run sizes, I understand
that you would want to sell most of a run of parts beforehand, and that this
will limit the choices of pieces.
I look forward to your next announcement,
James Powell, Bricksmith.
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> This sounds _great_. I know a little of the economics of injection molding,
> and as such I hope you have CAD/CAM files for the parts, especially the older
This gives me an idea: An official lego modelling program. If they do have cad
images of the elements they can somehow process those to reduce the precision on
the decimal places (to make them easier to work with and to also make them usless
to their competitors) then stick them all into a cad program. If TLG could come up
such a program, or even releasing an official TLG set of ldraw parts then the
community would love TLG for it.
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Jonathan Wilson <wilsonj@xoommail.com> wrote:
> This gives me an idea: An official lego modelling program. If they do have
> cad images of the elements they can somehow process those to reduce the
There is one.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00002EPYL/lugnet/104-9161219-4471611
(That link uses lugnet's referral code, btw.)
--
Matthew Miller ---> mattdm@mattdm.org
Quotes 'R' Us ---> http://quotes-r-us.org/
Boston University Linux ---> http://linux.bu.edu/
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Matthew Miller wrote:
> Jonathan Wilson <wilsonj@xoommail.com> wrote:
> > This gives me an idea: An official lego modelling program. If they do have
> > cad images of the elements they can somehow process those to reduce the
>
> There is one.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00002EPYL/lugnet/104-9161219-4471611
>
> (That link uses lugnet's referral code, btw.)
>
> --
> Matthew Miller ---> mattdm@mattdm.org
> Quotes 'R' Us ---> http://quotes-r-us.org/
> Boston University Linux ---> http://linux.bu.edu/
Lego creator? That sucks. I want starwars parts, space parts, castle parts (more
than will come in LCII Knights kingdom), classic town parts, pirate parts, train
parts etc etc etc.
Also the interface in lego creator is crap and you cant export to any usefull
format (for rendering for example).
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Jonathan Wilson <wilsonj@xoommail.com> wrote:
> Lego creator? That sucks. I want starwars parts, space parts, castle parts
It may suck, but it _does_ exist.
--
Matthew Miller ---> mattdm@mattdm.org
Quotes 'R' Us ---> http://quotes-r-us.org/
Boston University Linux ---> http://linux.bu.edu/
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James Powell wrote:
> This sounds _great_. I know a little of the economics of injection molding,
> and as such I hope you have CAD/CAM files for the parts, especially the older
> ones like the pitchfork (classic).
While they almost certainly have CAD/CAM files for newer parts, there
are almost certainly some older parts which they don't have CAD/CAM
files for. I'd strongly suspect there are parts we WON'T see because
they no longer have a useable mold. While they clearly are going to do
special runs, they probably aren't going to be making new molds for
parts which are obsolete in their mind. Of course, not all out of
production parts are obsolete, as some of the resurection of Fabuland
parts shows.
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Frank Filz writes:
> James Powell wrote:
> > This sounds _great_. I know a little of the economics of injection molding,
> > and as such I hope you have CAD/CAM files for the parts, especially the • older
> > ones like the pitchfork (classic).
>
> While they almost certainly have CAD/CAM files for newer parts, there
> are almost certainly some older parts which they don't have CAD/CAM
> files for. I'd strongly suspect there are parts we WON'T see because
> they no longer have a useable mold. While they clearly are going to do
> special runs, they probably aren't going to be making new molds for
> parts which are obsolete in their mind. Of course, not all out of
> production parts are obsolete, as some of the resurection of Fabuland
> parts shows.
>
> --
> Frank Filz
Well, from "The World Of Lego Toys" (or something like it, one of the world
tours), the comment was that in198(7?) they had been producing there molds
using CAM for at that point about 20 years, so it is possible. I know how the
older way is to make a mold, using a hobb, but from what I have seen, Lego has
been produced using CAM cavity sinking for at least 25 years, so most pieces
should be availabe as CAM files. Making a new mold with a CAM file is not all
that expensive, in the range of $10,000 or less. The question is do they use
the same format as they used to use? (heat, machines, plastic...)
I hope to see some of the older parts made available, such as the pitchfork,
and monorail track. (if straight monorail track is available, I will get into
monorail, otherwise, not a chance...)
Most of the parts which I would like are current enough that I am sure they are
available to TLG as CAM files, and the molds are very likely to exist still.
James (waiting to see what is made available...)
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> files for. I'd strongly suspect there are parts we WON'T see because
> they no longer have a useable mold. While they clearly are going to do
Like for example the old armless minifigs, they probobly dont have those anymore.
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<rearranged and snipped liberally>
In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
Wow. It is welcome. You mention our patience in waiting for the light at the
end of the tunnel. By taking the time to update us like this, you shorten
the tunnel a bit and I'm sure that we all appreciate it very much. Thank you
for thinking of us.
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks)...There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably
> around 50 or 100
So, will I have to buy 1000, or 50?
> [we will] offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
Very nice. How will you determine what these elements will be? Will we know
what the necessary aggregate order size is?
> The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
Wow. Honestly, this is quite beyond what I had expected. I hope that we can
all work together to make this worth it for you. Does this also mean that we
will be able to commission element-color combinations that have never existed?
Beyond the obvious benefits of providing us with bulk parts, are you concerned
with any possible detrimental effects of this distribution? Will TLC concern
itself with the collectors market when making these decisions? (I don't have a
stance on this, I'm just curious. What are the effects of us buying 10,000
maidens hats?)
Thanks Brad,
Christopher Weeks
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First, consider the usual metooish "yippee" as having been said. Right...
onwards...
In lugnet.lego.direct, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> Brad said:
> > [we will] offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> > elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> > each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
>
> Very nice. How will you determine what these elements will be? Will we know
> what the necessary aggregate order size is?
>
> > The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> > to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> > will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> > production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> > commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> > late this year or early in 2001.
I would like to suggest that the number needed be public at the start of the
month. While I don't expect daily updates, about 10 days before the end,
perhaps a post on which ones still are a bit short could be made. If you did
that, there might be some deep pockets guys (not that I know any, off hand) who
might step up and make the element happen.
In order to facilitate that, I would also suggest that for elements that you're
short, allow those deep pockets guys to give a range... min to max that they
would take. If, 10 days to go, you're 10000 short on something, I may well step
up and say yes, I'll take all 10K but if I can say "I'm good for at least 1K
but up to 10K if needed to make it happen" that would be useful.
> Wow. Honestly, this is quite beyond what I had expected.
I'll say... (insert obligatory additional yippee here) The bricksmiths lives
just got a LOT easier ...
> I hope that we can
> all work together to make this worth it for you. Does this also mean that we
> will be able to commission element-color combinations that have never existed?
That would be so awesome. Can you say boxcar doors and rails in brown?
> Beyond the obvious benefits of providing us with bulk parts, are you concerned
> with any possible detrimental effects of this distribution? Will TLC concern
> itself with the collectors market when making these decisions?
> (I don't have a
> stance on this, I'm just curious. What are the effects of us buying 10,000
> maidens hats?)
Hopefully detrimental to the hoarders. :-) Me, I think I am going to buy 5000
Luke keychains and put that particular bit of eBay nonsense to rest once and
for all by flooding the market.
++Lar
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Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> First, consider the usual metooish "yippee" as having been said. Right...
> onwards...
>
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> > Brad said:
>
> > > [we will] offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> > > elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> > > each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> >
> > Very nice. How will you determine what these elements will be? Will we know
> > what the necessary aggregate order size is?
> >
> > > The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> > > to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> > > will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> > > production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> > > commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> > > late this year or early in 2001.
>
> I would like to suggest that the number needed be public at the start of the
> month. While I don't expect daily updates, about 10 days before the end,
> perhaps a post on which ones still are a bit short could be made. If you did
> that, there might be some deep pockets guys (not that I know any, off hand) who
> might step up and make the element happen.
>
> In order to facilitate that, I would also suggest that for elements that you're
> short, allow those deep pockets guys to give a range... min to max that they
> would take. If, 10 days to go, you're 10000 short on something, I may well step
> up and say yes, I'll take all 10K but if I can say "I'm good for at least 1K
> but up to 10K if needed to make it happen" that would be useful.
>
> > Wow. Honestly, this is quite beyond what I had expected.
>
> I'll say... (insert obligatory additional yippee here) The bricksmiths lives
> just got a LOT easier ...
>
> > I hope that we can
> > all work together to make this worth it for you. Does this also mean that we
> > will be able to commission element-color combinations that have never existed?
>
> That would be so awesome. Can you say boxcar doors and rails in brown?
>
> > Beyond the obvious benefits of providing us with bulk parts, are you concerned
> > with any possible detrimental effects of this distribution? Will TLC concern
> > itself with the collectors market when making these decisions?
> > (I don't have a
> > stance on this, I'm just curious. What are the effects of us buying 10,000
> > maidens hats?)
>
> Hopefully detrimental to the hoarders. :-) Me, I think I am going to buy 5000
> Luke keychains and put that particular bit of eBay nonsense to rest once and
> for all by flooding the market.
>
> ++Lar
Here here. I agree with Lar. It is nice to see that the "deep pocket" people may
come in usefull after all. Especially after the recent upheaval involving the
"haves" and the "have nots".
Gary Istok
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> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
Will other countries folow after europe and america are set up? (Australia for
example)
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
Which colors will you be offering? Grey bricks for one would be a hit with castle
fans.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
Will this list include slope bricks?
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
Does this also mean that we can commission pieces in totally new colors, if the
demand is there?
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Brad Justus wrote:
> Dear All:
>
> First, I'd like to thank Suzanne and Todd for creating the new
> lugnet.lego group and associated subgroups. I hope that this will make
> it easier for everyone to find and read communications between The LEGO
> Company and our enthusiasts -- particularly as we intend these
> communications to be increasingly frequent in the months and years
> ahead.
>
> Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
> last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
> that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
> my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
> seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
> there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
> have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
> were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
> pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
> ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
> baseplate, as it were).
>
> I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
> participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so. We'll be
> happy to answer questions - and we'll be asking some of you as well.
> Please understand, however, that we can't address such juicy (yet taboo)
> topics as upcoming but thus far undisclosed products and other such
> "confidential" areas. We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
> with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
> suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
> consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
>
> And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
> our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
> elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
> manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
> highlights:
>
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
> · As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
> much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
> is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
> SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
> Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
>
> That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
>
> Play Well.
>
> -- Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
One thing that will probobly happen is that you will get several people, who all
want 20 casle helments of one type, and get the whole lot putting in an order for
100 or so then distributing them.
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Jonathan Wilson <wilsonj@xoommail.com> wrote:
> One thing that will probobly happen is that you will get several people,
> who all want 20 casle helments of one type, and get the whole lot putting
> in an order for 100 or so then distributing them.
Yeah, probably. I don't see why they'd have a problem with that -- it
redistributes the small-orders workload to the purchasers.
--
Matthew Miller ---> mattdm@mattdm.org
Quotes 'R' Us ---> http://quotes-r-us.org/
Boston University Linux ---> http://linux.bu.edu/
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In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
What will be the availability, if any, of getting some of these elements with
specific printed images on them (e.g. various minifig parts, slopes, bricks,
and tiles)? It seems to me (but I'm no expert) that there should only be a
small marginal cost in printing images on "standard" elements, especially if
there were enough people wanting the same image on the same element.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you.
Will the list of elements that don't get enough sign-ups that month be purged
or is it possible to keep them potentially available another month or two to
see if more interest can be generated. (There would probably have to be some
allowance for people removing themselves from a list if a different element
came up that was more likely to get an order filled. Each person only has so
much money at a time after all.) Or is it possible that if the number of an
element were close enough that the price might be incrementally increased
(assuming that it would be set in advance) to cover the cost and make a
production run anyway? This might be able to be done with upfront conditional
pricing (i.e. if 2000 are wanted then it would be $0.15/element, but if only
1500 are wanted, $.20/element). Not exactly a standard pricing model but it
might be useful.
Just some thoughts,
John Gramley
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Thanks Brad,
I dint hear it yet from my Dutch / European contact but I trust Ill hear it after
all.
Greetings and keep building
Nico Hoogerbrug
Secretary of De Bouwsteen
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Thanks Brad,
I dint hear it yet from my Dutch / European contact but I trust Ill hear it after
all.
Greetings and keep building
Nico Hoogerbrug
Secretary of De Bouwsteen
Netherlands
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Thanks Brad,
I dint hear it yet from my Dutch / European contact but I trust Ill hear it after
all.
Greetings and keep building
Nico Hoogerbrug
Secretary of De Bouwsteen
Netherlands
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Firstly, Having been punished by the rating system I apologise for the waste
of space and hope this post helps clarify the points I (and others) wished to
make in order to help you (The LEGO company) offer me (a customer) better
services and products.
In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> Dear All:
> We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
> with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
> suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
> consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
There was a knee jerk reaction to the brevity of this statement regarding your
planned roll out of services. Can you please elaborate on when other areas of
the world will be included? What, if any, will be the difference in
relability, price and communication of the services you are offering to the
areas mentioned above.
> · As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
> much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
> is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
> S@H now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
> Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
Will this e-commerce be parts only or will it include sets?
and, will there be shipping offered to non-US (or non-Europe)addresses?
> That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
> Play Well.
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
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|
In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> Dear All:
[snip]
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May. • [snip]
> Play Well.
>
> -- Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
Brad this is very good news.
However, I must state my pessimism of LEGO Directs success if the choice for
initial elements is bricks. Bricks are very easily obtained in basic buckets.
The current market is saturated with 2x bricks.
Plates and tiles should sell well provided all colors are available.
IMO, the market is much hungrier for minifigs and minifig elements, space
elements, train elements and castle elements.
But this is still great news!
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I don' t know Ed, I think that the market is full of Red, Blue, Yellow and
even Black. But I'd love to be able to order bulk Grey, Dark Grey and Tan
bricks...maybe even Brown and Clear. Those would be great for building some
nice downtown type buildings.
jt
Ed "Boxer" Jones wrote in message ...
> However, I must state my pessimism of LEGO Directs success if the choice • for
> initial elements is bricks. Bricks are very easily obtained in basic • buckets.
> The current market is saturated with 2x bricks.
>
> Plates and tiles should sell well provided all colors are available.
>
> IMO, the market is much hungrier for minifigs and minifig elements, space
> elements, train elements and castle elements.
>
> But this is still great news!
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Ordinarily, I don't believe in "me-too" posts. However, since it is feasible
that TLG is using the content of this newsgroup to plan Lego Direct's output, I
will add my two cents.
I agree with James Trobaugh. If we can order the standard blue-tub brick
selection in new colors, I will be standing in line for light gray, dark gray,
tan, and brown bricks. Maybe I would also buy some teal, purple, and orange.
In lugnet.lego.direct, James J. Trobaugh writes:
> I don' t know Ed, I think that the market is full of Red, Blue, Yellow and
> even Black. But I'd love to be able to order bulk Grey, Dark Grey and Tan
> bricks...maybe even Brown and Clear. Those would be great for building some
> nice downtown type buildings.
>
> jt
>
> Ed "Boxer" Jones wrote in message ...
> > However, I must state my pessimism of LEGO Directs success if the choice • for
> > initial elements is bricks. Bricks are very easily obtained in basic • buckets.
> > The current market is saturated with 2x bricks.
> >
> > Plates and tiles should sell well provided all colors are available.
> >
> > IMO, the market is much hungrier for minifigs and minifig elements, space
> > elements, train elements and castle elements.
> >
> > But this is still great news!
--
John J. Ladasky Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Structural Biology
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305
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On Sat, 22 Apr 2000 02:00:57 GMT, "John J. Ladasky Jr."
<ladasky@my-deja.com> wrote:
> Ordinarily, I don't believe in "me-too" posts. However, since it is feasible
> that TLG is using the content of this newsgroup to plan Lego Direct's output, I
> will add my two cents.
>
> I agree with James Trobaugh. If we can order the standard blue-tub brick
> selection in new colors, I will be standing in line for light gray, dark gray,
> tan, and brown bricks. Maybe I would also buy some teal, purple, and orange.
and green and pink? atleast green?
anyone?
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Kya Morden writes:
> On Sat, 22 Apr 2000 02:00:57 GMT, "John J. Ladasky Jr."
> <ladasky@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
> > Ordinarily, I don't believe in "me-too" posts. However, since it is feasible
> > that TLG is using the content of this newsgroup to plan Lego Direct's • output, I
> > will add my two cents.
> >
> > I agree with James Trobaugh. If we can order the standard blue-tub brick
> > selection in new colors, I will be standing in line for light gray, dark • gray,
> > tan, and brown bricks. Maybe I would also buy some teal, purple, and orange.
>
> and green and pink? atleast green?
>
> anyone?
YEAH!! GREEN!!!! =) The Big Blue tub has it, but not nearly enough of it. =)
~Nathan
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On Sat, 22 Apr 2000 07:33:42 GMT, "Nathan McDowell"
<Skiing_Scotsman@hotmail.com> wrote:
> YEAH!! GREEN!!!! =) The Big Blue tub has it, but not nearly enough of it. =)
>
> ~Nathan
Exactly, I'd like to get the green bricks but I can't justify buying
all those other bricks just for those green ones.
Kya
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"John J. Ladasky Jr." wrote:
>
> Ordinarily, I don't believe in "me-too" posts. However, since it is feasible
> that TLG is using the content of this newsgroup to plan Lego Direct's output, I
> will add my two cents.
>
> I agree with James Trobaugh. If we can order the standard blue-tub brick
> selection in new colors, I will be standing in line for light gray, dark gray,
> tan, and brown bricks. Maybe I would also buy some teal, purple, and orange.
>
> In lugnet.lego.direct, James J. Trobaugh writes:
> > I don' t know Ed, I think that the market is full of Red, Blue, Yellow and
> > even Black. But I'd love to be able to order bulk Grey, Dark Grey and Tan
> > bricks...maybe even Brown and Clear. Those would be great for building some
> > nice downtown type buildings.
Well, the only data I have about colour availability comes from the new
Lego book, which (in its discussion of the factories which make Lego)
indicate that the ABS granules (raw material) are stored in large silos
- I'd have to go home to check the exact colour list, but it was
something like two each of blue, red, yellow, white, black, light grey;
one each of dark grey, green, brown(?) and one other. I
distinctly remember pink, teal and orange as missing.
This was info for a Danish plant; I'm not sure how it matches with their
other plants. But it stands to reason that we will be able to order
standard parts in colours which are easy for them to provide. If they
had to refill a silo or hook up temporary supplies, I expect the cost
would go up for them, so they'd be less likely to do so.
I'd *love* to have a pile of teal bricks, or enough light green and dark
green to do a convincing park, but I'm not holding my breath...
I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has the actual data from the
Lego book, or has more in-depth knowledge about how Lego is produced.
It stands to reason that their production methods will strongly impact
the availability of piece and colour combinations for us...
Has anyone made up a definitive colour list? Some colours, like the
light green of the 7128 Star Wars Speeder Bikes set I haven't really
seen elsewhere, and due to the period of my dark ages, I think I missed
out on some ineteresting trans colours from the late eighties / early
nineties space sets.
Thanks!
Jeff Elliott
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Ed Jones writes:
> In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> > Dear All:
>
> [snip]
> > · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> > soon after.
> > · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> > (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> > elements.
>
> However, I must state my pessimism of LEGO Directs success if the choice for
> initial elements is bricks. Bricks are very easily obtained in basic buckets.
> The current market is saturated with 2x bricks.
That's true - if and only if you are looking for multiple colors. The
sales of large single-color lots on places like eBay show that there's a
definite market for this sort of thing.
I ran out of black 1x bricks while building my latest MOC
(http://people.ne.mediaone.net/sakura/moc/castleworld/wolftemp for some
"in progress" pics) and bought a couple of blue tubs - but the assortment
of 1x black bricks in those is quite small. I would have rather spent the
same amount of money on *just* 1x black bricks...
And if they're planning on offering grey bricks, I think *all* the castle
folks and a good number of others will be lining up to purchase. Same for
any of the other "unusual colors"
> Plates and tiles should sell well provided all colors are available.
Agreed!
> IMO, the market is much hungrier for minifigs and minifig elements, space
> elements, train elements and castle elements.
I have a feeling that these will remain the province of specific sets, at
least in the Castle area. (On the other hand, I bet Mike Stanley would be
ready to fulfill the aggregate order of pitchforks all by himself, judging
by the fervor with which he pursues them...)
J
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Ed Jones writes:
> In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> > Dear All:
>
> [snip]
> > · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> > soon after.
> > · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> > (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> > elements.
> > · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> > elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> > the first available elements will be published in early May. • [snip]
> > Play Well.
> >
> > -- Brad
> >
> > Brad Justus
> > Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> > legodirect@lego.com
>
> Brad this is very good news.
>
> However, I must state my pessimism of LEGO Directs success if the choice for
> initial elements is bricks. Bricks are very easily obtained in basic buckets.
> The current market is saturated with 2x bricks.
Not quite... there are very few white and red 2x bricks on ebay and the
truly bulk (2500) ig white goes for $80-$100 I dont have that kind of money.
>
> Plates and tiles should sell well provided all colors are available.Yes I hunger for more
>
> IMO, the market is much hungrier for minifigs and minifig elements, space
> elements, train elements and castle elements. MORE MORE MORE
>
> But this is still great news! yup
Jonathan McKay
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With the number of LEGO clubs forming I believe that the target number for a
min order can easily be hit. Elements could then be distributed within the
group, thus insulating TLG from smaller orders.
This also is, in a minor way, a forcing function for more groups to form.
Which I think is a great thing. Building is fun, but sharing is even more fun!
Private Auctions - RIP, Thanks to all that have helped supply the LEGO
community with this much needed service.
SteveB
www.PNLTC.org
In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> Dear All:
>
> First, I'd like to thank Suzanne and Todd for creating the new
> lugnet.lego group and associated subgroups. I hope that this will make
> it easier for everyone to find and read communications between The LEGO
> Company and our enthusiasts -- particularly as we intend these
> communications to be increasingly frequent in the months and years
> ahead.
>
> Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
> last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
> that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
> my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
> seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
> there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
> have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
> were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
> pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
> ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
> baseplate, as it were).
>
> I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
> participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so. We'll be
> happy to answer questions - and we'll be asking some of you as well.
> Please understand, however, that we can't address such juicy (yet taboo)
> topics as upcoming but thus far undisclosed products and other such
> "confidential" areas. We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
> with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
> suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
> consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
>
> And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
> our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
> elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
> manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
> highlights:
>
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
> · As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
> much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
> is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
> SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
> Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
>
> That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
>
> Play Well.
>
> -- Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Steven Barile writes:
> Private Auctions - RIP, Thanks to all that have helped supply the LEGO
> community with this much needed service.
Not sure I'd write off private sales and auctions for a while yet. I'm sure
some clubs like yours will be able to get some of the parts you want in some
of the colors you'd like but with an evergreen inventory of 100 elements and a
rotating stock of 50 or so (especially if one element in one color = one
element) I doubt this sort of service will fill every need, even for the
people willing to buy large quantities.
Just like some of my sales now aren't fulfilling the needs of people who only
want 2-3 of an element, this service will not satisfy the needs of those
people, other than in a group setting, and not everyone belongs to a group
like that.
Aside from that, I don't see LD offering the whole range of elements that are
available in any given year (or group of years). If that ends up being true,
someone willing to buy 20 copies of set XXXX that has several pieces that are
not available through LD should still be able to sell them.
'Course, LD could end up charging really high prices as well, which won't
matter for some pieces (train doors and glass, anyone?) but will for others.
They probably won't undercut per piece pricing on sets, for example.
Even if buying sets and selling/auctioning the parts were to become
economically unviable (doubtful) there should be nothing to stop people from
buying 1,000 of an element (thereby helping to meet the minimum) then
reselling it in lots of 5, 10, 20, etc with a markup to those unwilling or
unable to buy 50-100 of them.
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In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
Will you offer superceded parts such as 12V conductor rails which require
metals parts.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase).
What about parts which have had their moulds modified such as the 12V grey
plastic rail which used to have holes for the sleepers (ties) but these were
'filled in' for sets 4555 (the box cover has the unmodified rails) and 6761.
Many people are desperate for the old 12V parts - maybe just offer the
simplier rails, ties and conductor rails first to assess demand.
Glad to see Europe isn't far behind.
Simon Denscombe, England.
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Brad, Please consider bulk sales of replacement parts that were introduced to
replace parts that broke easily in the past. Examples include: The 12 tooth
bevel gear that replaced the 14 tooth easily breakable thin bevel gear. The
multicolor available technic element labled number 1 that effectively
replaces the easily breakable old style piston rod. The new improved
transparent pieces that replace the old style and easily breakable
transparent pieces. And any other piece that has been enhanced or improved
by Lego over the years.
Thanks
Daniel
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In lugnet.lego, Brad Justus writes:
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40
> "basic" elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The
> list for the first available elements will be published in early
> May.
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
If we counted an "element" as a single piece in a single color, then
the brick-only tubs alone would contain 66 different elements: 1x1,
1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 bricks, in black,
red, yellow, green, blue, and white.
If we list the common sizes of bricks, tiles, and plates, regardless
of color, we come up with a list of 39 "elements":
1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 bricks (11);
1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 plates (11);
4x4, 4x6, 4x8, 4x10, 4x12, 4x16, 6x6, 6x8, 6x10, 6x12, and 6x16 plates (11);
and 1x1, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, and 2x2 tiles (6).
This list encompasses all the bricks, plates, and tiles I personally
consider "basic." So, my conclusion is that this is a rough
description of the initial offering, and that these will at least be
available in quantity in any of the basic colors (black, red, yellow,
green, blue, and white).
An open issue is whether the "drab" colors (light grey, dark grey, and
beige/tan) will be included. The demand for light grey bricks, for
example, seems to be well over the minimum order quantity of 50 to
100, per size, but that may just make it a likely candidate for the
first of the monthly runs, until it "earns" its status as an
"evergreen."
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
I think that the additional basic elements that are offered year-round
will be determined largely by which elements have consistent monthly
demand, or have had some threshold number sold.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of
> more unusual elements each month. We will publish these elements at
> the beginning of each month, and collect orders for them during the
> course of that month. At the end of the month, we will tally the
> orders for each element, run our production against demand and then
> ship to you. In order to cost-justify production (changing the
> molds, running the machines for a certain period of time), we will
> require a minimum aggregate order (i.e. from all consumers) for
> each element, or we will not be able to produce that element. The
> beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us to
> manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long
> out of production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as
> a group can commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to
> begin this service late this year or early in 2001.
The two critical pieces of information for this plan are the cost per
element, and the minimum aggregate. If we assume a per-element cost of
US$0.05 (about halfway between the tub and set cost per piece), and a
minimum aggregate order of 10,000, then each production run is
cost-justified if $500 worth of the element is ordered. This seems to
me to be well in the upper range of what an individual AFOL is willing
to spend on a single piece in a single color. Meaning, that almost all
of the monthly runs will be determined by a large number of orders,
and group consensus.
Jason
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Jason Catena wrote:
> If we counted an "element" as a single piece in a single color, then
> the brick-only tubs alone would contain 66 different elements: 1x1,
> 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 bricks, in black,
> red, yellow, green, blue, and white.
The tubs don't have 2x8 bricks in any color.
They don't have 2x6, 1x6, or 1x8 bricks in green.
There might be other omissions I'm not remembering.
> If we list the common sizes of bricks, tiles, and plates, regardless
> of color, we come up with a list of 39 "elements":
>
> 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 bricks (11);
> 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 plates (11);
> 4x4, 4x6, 4x8, 4x10, 4x12, 4x16, 6x6, 6x8, 6x10, 6x12, and 6x16 plates (11);
> and 1x1, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, and 2x2 tiles (6).
I would also consider the following size of bricks and plates as
"basic", even though they don't come in tubs:
bricks: 1x10, 1x12, 1x16, 2x10, 4x6, 4x10, 4x12, 8x8, 8x16, 12x24
plates: 1x10, 2x10, 2x12, 2x16, 6x14, 6x24
An offering that consisted solely of basic bricks, plates, and tiles
in the sizes and colors that don't come in tubs would be a great start.
/Eric McC/
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Eric McCarthy wrote:
>
> Jason Catena wrote:
> > If we list the common sizes of bricks, tiles, and plates, regardless
> > of color, we come up with a list of 39 "elements":
> >
> > 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 bricks (11);
> > 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 plates (11);
> > 4x4, 4x6, 4x8, 4x10, 4x12, 4x16, 6x6, 6x8, 6x10, 6x12, and 6x16 plates (11);
> > and 1x1, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, and 2x2 tiles (6).
>
> I would also consider the following size of bricks and plates as
> "basic", even though they don't come in tubs:
> bricks: 1x10, 1x12, 1x16, 2x10, 4x6, 4x10, 4x12, 8x8, 8x16, 12x24
> plates: 1x10, 2x10, 2x12, 2x16, 6x14, 6x24
Don't forget 2x2 "corner" (L-shaped) plates and bricks. I consider
these to be essentails, even though they don't show up in buckets.
And there are always the 1x1x5, 1x2x5, 1x3x5, 1x6x5. Less popular,
for certain, but still useful.
I note that slopes and inverse sloped were not mentioned. Too bad.
Jeff
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Slopes and inverse slopes aren't "basic" bricks, though ;-)
I consider them essential, especially corner slopes and INVERSE corner slopes (too
dang hard to get in sets these days).
Jeff Elliott wrote:
> I note that slopes and inverse sloped were not mentioned. Too bad.
>
> Jeff
--
| Tom Stangl, Technical Support Netscape Communications Corp
| Please do not associate my personal views with my employer
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Jeff Elliott wrote:
> Eric McCarthy wrote:
> >
> > Jason Catena wrote:
> > > If we list the common sizes of bricks, tiles, and plates, regardless
> > > of color, we come up with a list of 39 "elements":
> > >
> > > 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 bricks (11);
> > > 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 plates (11);
> > > 4x4, 4x6, 4x8, 4x10, 4x12, 4x16, 6x6, 6x8, 6x10, 6x12, and 6x16 plates (11);
> > > and 1x1, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, and 2x2 tiles (6).
> >
> > I would also consider the following size of bricks and plates as
> > "basic", even though they don't come in tubs:
> > bricks: 1x10, 1x12, 1x16, 2x10, 4x6, 4x10, 4x12, 8x8, 8x16, 12x24
> > plates: 1x10, 2x10, 2x12, 2x16, 6x14, 6x24
>
> Don't forget 2x2 "corner" (L-shaped) plates and bricks. I consider
> these to be essentails, even though they don't show up in buckets.
>
> And there are always the 1x1x5, 1x2x5, 1x3x5, 1x6x5. Less popular,
> for certain, but still useful.
>
> I note that slopes and inverse sloped were not mentioned. Too bad.
>
> Jeff
And lest we forget, the 1x1 round bricks, and the 2x2 quarter circle (macaroni)
bricks. These have been part of the regular LEGO brick inventory since the 1950's.
Gary Istok
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I bet if we made a fuss, we could get any element in any color, ie bright green
bricks, clear arches, trans red plates... I havent been able to think of
anything but this since I heard the news. It would be so cool to get anything
in any color, even if you need to order tons,
so, who wants to join my clear brick+plate club? : ) seriously
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Yeah, I bet if we made a big enough fuss, they would do the ultimate
and just drop the whole bulk ordering thing.
joshua cirinna wrote:
>
> I bet if we made a fuss, we could get any element in any color, ie bright green
> bricks, clear arches, trans red plates... I havent been able to think of
> anything but this since I heard the news. It would be so cool to get anything
> in any color, even if you need to order tons,
> so, who wants to join my clear brick+plate club? : ) seriously
Paul Foster
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Paul Foster writes:
>
> Yeah, I bet if we made a big enough fuss, they would do the ultimate
> and just drop the whole bulk ordering thing.
Jeez sorry, whats your freakin problem.
It makes sense to me to ask for what you want
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joshua cirinna wrote:
>
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Paul Foster writes:
> >
> > Yeah, I bet if we made a big enough fuss, they would do the ultimate
> > and just drop the whole bulk ordering thing.
> Jeez sorry, whats your freakin problem.
> It makes sense to me to ask for what you want
And it makes even more sense to go about things politely
and be nice in the first place, rather than just jump in and
start making a big, hairy deal over everything.
Paul Foster
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> And it makes even more sense to go about things politely
> and be nice in the first place, rather than just jump in and
> start making a big, hairy deal over everything.
Im sorry It was something I was excited about at the moment, and the only
response I got was negative, It really seems that only the "cool" lugnetters
get any responses even if their work is only so-so. I mean, Ive been visiting
lugnet for the past 6 years and personally have spent like 20% of my pay
cheques on lego in that period, made a fifteen minute animated lego movie(
which even got a small plug from Todd) AND NO ONE KNOWS ME! I have a new site
which hardly anyone goes too, then everyone swarms to some uncreative sites
with hackneyed spaceship designs that arent even color coordinated. Listen, I
know I sound like the biggest flaming jerk right now, but I'm just feeling
discouraged
Josh
http://www.speakdesign.com/josh/lego/
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Joshua Cirinna writes:
> I mean, Ive been visiting lugnet for the past 6 years
That is quite an achievement!
> Im sorry It was something I was excited about at the moment, and the only
> response I got was negative, It really seems that only the "cool" lugnetters
> get any responses even if their work is only so-so.
> [...]
> and personally have spent like 20% of my pay
> cheques on lego in that period, made a fifteen minute animated lego movie(
> which even got a small plug from Todd) AND NO ONE KNOWS ME! I have a new site
> which hardly anyone goes too, then everyone swarms to some uncreative sites
> with hackneyed spaceship designs that arent even color coordinated.
Put it this way - are you more likely to go to a friends site, and explore all
the little things they've put there.. or go to someones site who you don't know
and do the same thing?
Then afterwards are you more likely to say nice things about the things you see
at a friends site because they are your friend? If you really want that sort of
feedback, then I guess the best way to go about it is to start contributing to
relevant newsgroups and *making* people know you through positive
communication. Okay - your last post wasn't a good start :) But I don't think
it will be held against you at all.
If something is *really* impressive it will blow people away no matter what - I
went to your site before and thought it was pretty cool.. but it didn't blow me
away because it wasn't finished, IIRC I commented to that extent and made some
suggestions?
> Listen, I know I sound like the biggest flaming jerk right now, but I'm just
> feeling discouraged
You don't sound like the biggest jerk to me - just discouraged.. and that is
totally understandable. Also - your last post was totally off-topic for
lugnet.lego.direct, so don't be discouraged if it gets rated really quite low -
I'm setting followups to lugnet.people, as I think that's a better forum for
this?
Cheers,
Richard
[FUT lugnet.people]
> http://www.speakdesign.com/josh/lego/
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> If something is *really* impressive it will blow people away no matter what - I
> went to your site before and thought it was pretty cool.. but it didn't blow me
> away because it wasn't finished, IIRC I commented to that extent and made some
> suggestions?
Yeah! Im really excited about rehauling my site to have an index and a
walkabout mode, with all the close-ups you will really be able to see the care
I’ve put into it. I spend every saturday, all day , working on lego, so if I
post pictures of everything it should be cool.
> Cheers,
> Richard
Thanks for the words of encouragement Richard! I was feeling sick to my
stomach thinking I was going to be blacklisted from the lugnet loop.
Do you have a website?
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In lugnet.people, Joshua Cirinna writes:
>
> > If something is *really* impressive it will blow people away no matter what -
> > I went to your site before and thought it was pretty cool.. but it didn't
> > blow me away because it wasn't finished, IIRC I commented to that extent and
> > made some suggestions?
>
> Yeah! Im really excited about rehauling my site to have an index and a
> walkabout mode, with all the close-ups you will really be able to see the care
> I’ve put into it. I spend every saturday, all day , working on lego, so if I
> post pictures of everything it should be cool.
Cool - I'll look forward to seeing it! I think you're on the right track with
the 'click' to view around idea. You're using dreamweaver right? If you use the
'splice' tool on that it should auto-generate the javascript needed to create
roll-overs for you - then you can use any paint-package to highlight (even a
simple brighten works) the areas which do stuff.
Something like this <http://lightning.prohosting.com/~spontif/temp/haylp/>
Although that is a test image which takes about 20 seconds to load using
Netscape on some machines.
> Thanks for the words of encouragement Richard! I was feeling sick to my
> stomach thinking I was going to be blacklisted from the lugnet loop.
No problem :) It's the same with any community really, unless you speak up and
make yourself known then people will ignore you - it's nothing personal, it's
just because they haven't had chance to get to know you?
> Do you have a website?
Sort of, but it's embarassingly bad at the moment - I'm studying so I don't
have time to do anything to it till about June! The other day I accidentally
uploaded some pictures of my sister and niece into the top directory, so I
don't even have links to the things that were there :)
Richard
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> You're using dreamweaver right?
Yeah I used Dreamweaver, but I did it in California on my vacation, and I dont
have dreamweaver here in new york, So I dont know when I will be able to fix
everything I want to fix, just keep scanning I guess until I can get access to
dreamweaver somehow.
Plus thats the first website I made on my own, so I dont really know how to do
some of the walkabout tools that I want to do, like a joystick like
controlpanel and popup rollover text and arrows
the pile of work on my desk has cleared up a little and Im feeling calmer
Josh
http://www.speakdesign.com/josh/foundling.html
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> Thanks for the words of encouragement Richard! I was feeling sick to my
> stomach thinking I was going to be blacklisted from the lugnet loop.
> Do you have a website?
I've been to your site. One reason I never spoke up was that there wasn't too
much detail that I could see from the pictures, but it sounds like you have
plans to change that. The site itself is good in an asthetic sense. Better than
mine by a long shot. The models are great, from what I could see. When I can
see more, I'll say more.
From what I've seen and experienced, I think it would take more than a couple
of posts to get blacklisted from LUGNET. Everyone is pretty tolerant.
I've been with LUGNET since it opened up to the public (which by the way was
October 1998 IIRC) and I don't feel like one of the major contributors. Some of
my stuff has gotten "ooohs" and "aaahs" and other stuff has gone flat. It's a
hit or miss thing and you'll never really know which way your model will go
until it happens. Lately I've been really inactive on the LUGNET scene due to
an elephant sized builders block.
It's frustrating at times, but in my opinion the best thing to do is just take
part in conversations that interest you. It all comes around eventually.
-Duane
BTW, I have a site of my own. <http://www.geocities.com/dnjhess/lego.html>
It's mediocre, but I haven't had the desire to update it since I haven't had
anything new to add.
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> I've been with LUGNET since it opened up to the public (which by the way was
> October 1998 IIRC)
98? I remember lugnet from my first year of artschool, was it only cool lego
site of the week back then or something?
> BTW, I have a site of my own. <http://www.geocities.com/dnjhess/lego.html>
hey! Ive never seen that stuff, Its cool! (I'd like it better if the models
were really made instead of virtually made, but I know that ldraw is harder
than buiding so thats cool, plus the lighting is always good in raytraced
images)
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In lugnet.people, Joshua Cirinna writes:
>
> > I've been with LUGNET since it opened up to the public (which by the way was
> > October 1998 IIRC)
> 98? I remember lugnet from my first year of artschool, was it only cool lego
> site of the week back then or something?
Maybe you were thinking of Fibblesnork? I know that was around way before
LUGNET.
> > BTW, I have a site of my own. <http://www.geocities.com/dnjhess/lego.html>
>
> hey! Ive never seen that stuff, Its cool! (I'd like it better if the models
> were really made instead of virtually made, but I know that ldraw is harder
> than buiding so thats cool, plus the lighting is always good in raytraced
> images)
Everything on my site has been built in real life. I just don't have the means
to have real pictures of everything I put up. I've made scans where I've had
real pictures, but since I already had all of it in LDraw, I didn't think it
that important. (I try to make hard copy instructions for all of my models so
that I can make them again if I want.) Eventually I would like to get a digital
camera, but until I do you'll just have to be content with POV-Ray'd images or
whatever develops well. :-)
-Duane
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Hi Brad, and thanks.
I do have one serious question for you about Bulk Sales. Have the classic LEGO
window/door molds (known as #214 1-10 in the old 50's and 60's catalogs) been
destroyed? Or are they still available for use? I know that #214/6 (2x2 windows)
are the only size still currently in production.
Thank you,
Gary Istok
Brad Justus wrote:
> Dear All:
>
> First, I'd like to thank Suzanne and Todd for creating the new
> lugnet.lego group and associated subgroups. I hope that this will make
> it easier for everyone to find and read communications between The LEGO
> Company and our enthusiasts -- particularly as we intend these
> communications to be increasingly frequent in the months and years
> ahead.
>
> Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
> last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
> that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
> my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
> seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
> there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
> have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
> were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
> pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
> ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
> baseplate, as it were).
>
> I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
> participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so. We'll be
> happy to answer questions - and we'll be asking some of you as well.
> Please understand, however, that we can't address such juicy (yet taboo)
> topics as upcoming but thus far undisclosed products and other such
> "confidential" areas. We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
> with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
> suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
> consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
>
> And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
> our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
> elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
> manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
> highlights:
>
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
> · As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
> much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
> is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
> SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
> Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
>
> That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
>
> Play Well.
>
> -- Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
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Brad Justus wrote:
snip...
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
Just to clarify if I have this right, LD will require that say 10K of a
certain brick must be ordered from al combine buyers, but an individual
buyer may order as few as 50-100? Please don't tell me I'm confused. :)
I like the idea of basic elements being available, but 40 is a low number
when seperated into colors and sizes. I would hate to see all the 2x4 black
bricks of my dreams available, but not have access to black 2x3 or 1x2 that
would be needed to finish off a project.
snip...
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
Guess it would be easier to assess if the colors and sizes of all the bricks
and plates and tiles were stated. 100 may be a wide enough variety. Still
hard to say.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
This could get interesting. If a person were willing to pay enough, could
one contract for exclusive production run of a unique brick? It might cost a
small fortune to corner the market for clear macaroni bricks, but it might
be worth it. :) Seriously though, maybe we should survey what people would
most like to see, ranging from the common to the unique.
Macaroni bricks, any color.
Castle helmets, any style.
Visors for castle helmets, old or new style.
Vests as worn by figs in the Yellow Castle set, though a different color
from the original.
Armor.
12x24 bricks.
Hourglass structural pieces that use to be so common in classic space.
Girders/supports, like in space monorail or Message Base Interceptor.
I'll come up with more right after I send this. :|
I don't think I would be in favor of making available any bricks that were
unique to only one set in the past. Not bulk anyway. If people want to build
the sets of their youth and avoid confiscatory auction prices, great, but
too many buyers could be duped into paying excessive prices for what appear
to be classic sets but aren't. I think someone wanted to undercut hoarders,
which I can understand, but even if 100,000 Maiden Hats suddenly became
available, someone would be hawking them for 10X their worth. Let Consumer
affairs deal with people who need specific pieces for old sets.
snip...
>
> Play Well.
>
> -- Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
Thanks. Looking forward to see where this goes.
Mark K.
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Ice wrote:
> Brad Justus wrote:
> snip...
> > · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> > (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> > elements.
> > · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> > elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> > the first available elements will be published in early May.
> > · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> > (depending on the size of the element).
>
> Just to clarify if I have this right, LD will require that say 10K of a
> certain brick must be ordered from al combine buyers, but an individual
> buyer may order as few as 50-100? Please don't tell me I'm confused. :)
>
> I like the idea of basic elements being available, but 40 is a low number
> when seperated into colors and sizes. I would hate to see all the 2x4 black
> bricks of my dreams available, but not have access to black 2x3 or 1x2 that
> would be needed to finish off a project.
>
> snip...
> > · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> > elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
>
> Guess it would be easier to assess if the colors and sizes of all the bricks
> and plates and tiles were stated. 100 may be a wide enough variety. Still
> hard to say.
>
> > · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> > will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> > elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> > each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> > At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> > our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> > cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> > certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> > from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> > that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> > to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> > will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> > production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> > commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> > late this year or early in 2001.
>
> This could get interesting. If a person were willing to pay enough, could
> one contract for exclusive production run of a unique brick? It might cost a
> small fortune to corner the market for clear macaroni bricks, but it might
> be worth it. :) Seriously though, maybe we should survey what people would
> most like to see, ranging from the common to the unique.
>
> Macaroni bricks, any color.
> Castle helmets, any style.
> Visors for castle helmets, old or new style.
> Vests as worn by figs in the Yellow Castle set, though a different color
> from the original.
> Armor.
> 12x24 bricks.
> Hourglass structural pieces that use to be so common in classic space.
> Girders/supports, like in space monorail or Message Base Interceptor.
> I'll come up with more right after I send this. :|
>
> I don't think I would be in favor of making available any bricks that were
> unique to only one set in the past. Not bulk anyway. If people want to build
> the sets of their youth and avoid confiscatory auction prices, great, but
> too many buyers could be duped into paying excessive prices for what appear
> to be classic sets but aren't. I think someone wanted to undercut hoarders,
> which I can understand, but even if 100,000 Maiden Hats suddenly became
> available, someone would be hawking them for 10X their worth. Let Consumer
> affairs deal with people who need specific pieces for old sets.
>
> snip...
> >
> > Play Well.
> >
> > -- Brad
> >
> > Brad Justus
> > Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> > legodirect@lego.com
>
> Thanks. Looking forward to see where this goes.
>
> Mark K.
I think that if the demand is there then offering pieces that have only ever
appeared in one set, like the black falcon flag, the maidens cap, the tudor wall
pieces and others would be good, even if it pisses off the people who cant get
ridiculous prices on ebay for the pieces.
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Jonathan Wilson wrote:
>
> Ice wrote:
>
> > Brad Justus wrote:
> > snip...
> > This could get interesting. If a person were willing to pay enough, could
> > one contract for exclusive production run of a unique brick? It might cost a
> > small fortune to corner the market for clear macaroni bricks, but it might
> > be worth it. :) Seriously though, maybe we should survey what people would
> > most like to see, ranging from the common to the unique.
> >
> > Macaroni bricks, any color.
> > Castle helmets, any style.
> > Visors for castle helmets, old or new style.
> > Vests as worn by figs in the Yellow Castle set, though a different color
> > from the original.
> > Armor.
> > 12x24 bricks.
> > Hourglass structural pieces that use to be so common in classic space.
> > Girders/supports, like in space monorail or Message Base Interceptor.
> > I'll come up with more right after I send this. :|
Add Marion Helmets, maybe in gray, and Shako<?> hats to the list.
Masts in brown?
> >
> > I don't think I would be in favor of making available any bricks that were
> > unique to only one set in the past. Not bulk anyway. If people want to build
> > the sets of their youth and avoid confiscatory auction prices, great, but
> > too many buyers could be duped into paying excessive prices for what appear
> > to be classic sets but aren't. I think someone wanted to undercut hoarders,
> > which I can understand, but even if 100,000 Maiden Hats suddenly became
> > available, someone would be hawking them for 10X their worth. Let Consumer
> > affairs deal with people who need specific pieces for old sets.
> >
> > snip...
> > Mark K.
>
> I think that if the demand is there then offering pieces that have only ever
> appeared in one set, like the black falcon flag, the maidens cap, the tudor wall
> pieces and others would be good, even if it pisses off the people who cant get
> ridiculous prices on ebay for the pieces.
But people will get those ridiculous prices, maybe for quite a while. Many
buyers just don't have the information about LD and S@H they need to avoid
being ripped off.
While I don't want TLG to shut us off from pieces we need to complete old
sets, I don't think LD should be the source for them. Some pieces, like the
vests from the Yellow Castle, would make a good bulk item IMO. Others, like
the flag you mentioned, should be available through customer services,
unless you were imagining and army of BF soldiers where a hundred or so are
waving the big flags.
I can understand concerns about hoarders and gougers, but collectors'
interests should figure into the equation too. I'd love to be able to get
more Blacktron I minfigs, but I don't want them popping up reducing the
value of the originals. Maybe a >slightly< modified fig would be OK,
something to distinguish originals from re-issues, but I still see many in
the public being gouged on Ebay buy some sellers who would push the
re-issues as "old" and "rare".
Brad may have a tough time keeping the customer base happy. :)
Mark K.
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In article <39003220.5E4926CE@inwave.com>, icestorm@inwave.com wrote:
> I can understand concerns about hoarders and gougers, but collectors'
> interests should figure into the equation too. I'd love to be able to get
> more Blacktron I minfigs, but I don't want them popping up reducing the
> value of the originals. Maybe a >slightly< modified fig would be OK,
> something to distinguish originals from re-issues, but I still see many in
> the public being gouged on Ebay buy some sellers who would push the
> re-issues as "old" and "rare".
Personally, I'd like to see all of the rarest pieces duplicated
perfectly in enormous mass. My NLS is into Barbie Dolls. The gouging and
fabricated-"rare" stuff is all over the place. And Mattel does all sorts
of things which make it easy to distinguish old from new. With Mattel it
is more of not having a need for consistency. Subtle changes from one
line to the next are made without a second thought. One of the great
things about TLG is the incredible consistency over the years. Since they
started using ABS, it is almost impossible to distinguish a black 2x4 made
last week from one made decades ago. This is one of the reasons that LEGO
collecting has remained so friendly. Even with the recent influx of AFOL
because of Star Wars, LEGO collecting is still a pretty friendly place.
Hang out on any doll-collecting group/board for a while and you'll see
what an unpleasent market can look like.
The only thing that makes a Guarded Inn unique is that one flag (I
think). When you buy a used GI, you have no idea how old the rest of the
bricks are. That is one of the best things about LEGO collecting. I have
hundreds of sets. I don't have a single one of them intact. However, I
could rip apart my walker for the beams and rebuild my SuperCar (the real
one :-) any time I want. It would be virtually impossible for me to end
up with exactly the same bricks going into it as came in the original
packaging. I like it that way.
If TLG starts catering to maintaining the collector value of certain
items, we might as well start giving our money to Mattel.
Later,
Gino A...
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Gino A. Melone wrote:
> In article <39003220.5E4926CE@inwave.com>, icestorm@inwave.com wrote:
> > I can understand concerns about hoarders and gougers, but collectors'
> > interests should figure into the equation too. I'd love to be able to get
> > more Blacktron I minfigs, but I don't want them popping up reducing the
> > value of the originals. Maybe a >slightly< modified fig would be OK,
> > something to distinguish originals from re-issues, but I still see many in
> > the public being gouged on Ebay buy some sellers who would push the
> > re-issues as "old" and "rare".
> Personally, I'd like to see all of the rarest pieces duplicated
> perfectly in enormous mass. My NLS is into Barbie Dolls. The gouging and
> fabricated-"rare" stuff is all over the place. And Mattel does all sorts
> of things which make it easy to distinguish old from new. With Mattel it
> is more of not having a need for consistency. Subtle changes from one
> line to the next are made without a second thought. One of the great
> things about TLG is the incredible consistency over the years. Since they
> started using ABS, it is almost impossible to distinguish a black 2x4 made
> last week from one made decades ago. This is one of the reasons that LEGO
> collecting has remained so friendly. Even with the recent influx of AFOL
> because of Star Wars, LEGO collecting is still a pretty friendly place.
> Hang out on any doll-collecting group/board for a while and you'll see
> what an unpleasent market can look like.
>
> The only thing that makes a Guarded Inn unique is that one flag (I
> think). When you buy a used GI, you have no idea how old the rest of the
> bricks are. That is one of the best things about LEGO collecting. I have
> hundreds of sets. I don't have a single one of them intact. However, I
> could rip apart my walker for the beams and rebuild my SuperCar (the real
> one :-) any time I want. It would be virtually impossible for me to end
> up with exactly the same bricks going into it as came in the original
> packaging. I like it that way.
>
> If TLG starts catering to maintaining the collector value of certain
> items, we might as well start giving our money to Mattel.
>
> Later,
> Gino A...
As someone who has a large collection of rare pieces, I am totally in agreement
with mass producing them. I won't be hurt, because buying more of them means
that I will now be able to build grander and more detailed buildings. Yeah I
have 42 steep slope corners in yellow, 140 regular slope (outside) corners in
blue, etc, but I am not selling any of these anyway. So if they are suddenly no
longer worth $10 each or more, then I won't be sad, because now I can buy
hundreds more.
The sellers are the ones who will not be helped by this. But I only buy, not
sell.
Gary Istok
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On Fri, 21 Apr 2000 10:49:04 GMT, Ice <icestorm@inwave.com> wrote:
SNIP
> >
> > I think that if the demand is there then offering pieces that have only ever
> > appeared in one set, like the black falcon flag, the maidens cap, the tudor wall
> > pieces and others would be good, even if it pisses off the people who cant get
> > ridiculous prices on ebay for the pieces.
>
> But people will get those ridiculous prices, maybe for quite a while. Many
> buyers just don't have the information about LD and S@H they need to avoid
> being ripped off.
>
> While I don't want TLG to shut us off from pieces we need to complete old
> sets, I don't think LD should be the source for them. Some pieces, like the
> vests from the Yellow Castle, would make a good bulk item IMO. Others, like
> the flag you mentioned, should be available through customer services,
> unless you were imagining and army of BF soldiers where a hundred or so are
> waving the big flags.
>
> I can understand concerns about hoarders and gougers, but collectors'
> interests should figure into the equation too. I'd love to be able to get
> more Blacktron I minfigs, but I don't want them popping up reducing the
> value of the originals. Maybe a >slightly< modified fig would be OK,
> something to distinguish originals from re-issues, but I still see many in
> the public being gouged on Ebay buy some sellers who would push the
> re-issues as "old" and "rare".
>
> Brad may have a tough time keeping the customer base happy. :)
>
> Mark K.
Really if we get a chance at the cool old pieces or designs I don't
care a SINGLE WHIT! about collectability. If some person selling
stuff on ebay doesn't make as much money too bad, so sad. I want the
pieces, if the "value" of my "collective" goes up great, fine
whatever. I'm not planning on ever selling my pieces. One I would
hate to see is a Hot Wheels or Barbie type collectors market spring
up.
I would LOVE to see Black Falcons form LEGO Direct, don't think it
will happen, but would still love to see it. I would love to see many
older parts not in current sets released or ones that are not
available cheaply currently. I really don't see minifigs as being an
option anytime soon if ever. I would be very content to get selected
accessories :^)
Mike
All other themes are just spare parts for Castle!
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Wow, just think of the possibilities!!! I don't think I can say much more
than anyone else has said, but this is great!! I hope the setup and operation
of Lego Direct goes smoothly.
Wilson
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Brad Justus wrote in message ...
> Dear All:
This is super!
As mentioned in previous responses, price estimates would be the cherry on
this cake! I shall begin gathering my pennies... and hundred dollar bills
<g>
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So what's the latest news? Brad's post is almost a month old, with no new posts,
even though "I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so."
I know you're busy getting LD off the ground, but we are all very hungry for news.
BTW, tell the folks at HQ that the UCS Tie Fighter absolutely ROCKS! I can't wait
for my X-Wing to arrive! Now get busy on a UCS Millenium Falcon, AT-ST, and
AT-AT ;-)
Brad Justus wrote:
> Dear All:
>
> First, I'd like to thank Suzanne and Todd for creating the new
> lugnet.lego group and associated subgroups. I hope that this will make
> it easier for everyone to find and read communications between The LEGO
> Company and our enthusiasts -- particularly as we intend these
> communications to be increasingly frequent in the months and years
> ahead.
>
> Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
> last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
> that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
> my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
> seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
> there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
> have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
> were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
> pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
> ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
> baseplate, as it were).
>
> I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
> participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so. We'll be
> happy to answer questions - and we'll be asking some of you as well.
> Please understand, however, that we can't address such juicy (yet taboo)
> topics as upcoming but thus far undisclosed products and other such
> "confidential" areas. We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
> with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
> suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
> consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
>
> And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
> our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
> elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
> manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
> highlights:
>
> · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> soon after.
> · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> elements.
> · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
> · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> (depending on the size of the element).
> · As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
> much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
> is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
> SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
> Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
> · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> late this year or early in 2001.
>
> That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
>
> Play Well.
>
> -- Brad
>
> Brad Justus
> Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> legodirect@lego.com
--
| Tom Stangl, Technical Support Netscape Communications Corp
| Please do not associate my personal views with my employer
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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|
And now that Brad's post is SIX weeks old, I'm wondering what timeline TLC exists
on?? "or so" usually doesn't mean "a magnitude", but it's rapidly approaching that.
Brad - can we please get an update? Hire an intern if you have to, pay him in ABS ;-)
BTW, the UCS X-Wing totally rocks too ;-) Where's that AT-AT? ;-)
Tom Stangl wrote:
> So what's the latest news? Brad's post is almost a month old, with no new posts,
> even though "I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
> participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so."
>
> I know you're busy getting LD off the ground, but we are all very hungry for news.
>
> BTW, tell the folks at HQ that the UCS Tie Fighter absolutely ROCKS! I can't wait
> for my X-Wing to arrive! Now get busy on a UCS Millenium Falcon, AT-ST, and
> AT-AT ;-)
>
> Brad Justus wrote:
>
> > Dear All:
> >
> > First, I'd like to thank Suzanne and Todd for creating the new
> > lugnet.lego group and associated subgroups. I hope that this will make
> > it easier for everyone to find and read communications between The LEGO
> > Company and our enthusiasts -- particularly as we intend these
> > communications to be increasingly frequent in the months and years
> > ahead.
> >
> > Second, I'd like to thank all of you for being so patient during these
> > last couple of months. We know that it must be difficult to believe
> > that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (such light being lit by
> > my first communication in December) and then to be frustrated that it
> > seems to draw no nearer. And we realize that though it may seem as if
> > there have been many words and few actions, we can assure you that we
> > have not been idle - but we needed to ensure that all the correct pieces
> > were in place before beginning actively our interactions with you. These
> > pieces are now largely where they ought to be and, consequently, we are
> > ready to begin putting the rubber to the road (or the brick to
> > baseplate, as it were).
> >
> > I and other representatives of The LEGO Company will now be
> > participating in LUGNET on the order of once a week or so. We'll be
> > happy to answer questions - and we'll be asking some of you as well.
> > Please understand, however, that we can't address such juicy (yet taboo)
> > topics as upcoming but thus far undisclosed products and other such
> > "confidential" areas. We will however, be pleased to engage in dialogue
> > with you about your passion for the Brick, and to welcome your
> > suggestions for how we may offer better service and products to you, our
> > consumers. (I'll be looking for you in lugnet.lego.direct.)
> >
> > And to that end: I am pleased to be able now to disclose some details of
> > our bulk buying program. We anticipate offering purchases of bulk
> > elements within 90 days (finishing touches now being applied to our
> > manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities for this). Here are the
> > highlights:
> >
> > · Initial availability will be in North America, but Europe will follow
> > soon after.
> > · When we say bulk orders, we mean large quantities of a single element
> > (e.g. 1,000 red 2x6 bricks), not a single order of a thousand different
> > elements.
> > · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> > elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> > the first available elements will be published in early May.
> > · There will be a mimimum order quantity, probably around 50 or 100
> > (depending on the size of the element).
> > · As the new e-commerce portion of LEGO.com will not be available until
> > much later this year, purchases will be made through Shop At Home - that
> > is, by placing your orders via telephone. (IMPORTANT: Please do not call
> > SAH now - we'll let you know when the bulk service goes live.) In
> > Europe, we are creating a new toll-free number for direct purchases.
> > · It is our intent going forward to make a certain number of basic
> > elements (perhaps a couple hundred or so) available year-round.
> > · In addition to this evergreen group, we are creating a system that
> > will allow us to offer a set (perhaps an additional 50 to 100) of more unusual
> > elements each month. We will publish these elements at the beginning of
> > each month, and collect orders for them during the course of that month.
> > At the end of the month, we will tally the orders for each element, run
> > our production against demand and then ship to you. In order to
> > cost-justify production (changing the molds, running the machines for a
> > certain period of time), we will require a minimum aggregate order (i.e.
> > from all consumers) for each element, or we will not be able to produce
> > that element. The beauty of this system is that it potentially allows us
> > to manufacture elements which we are not currently producing - which
> > will give you the ability to commission purchase of elements long out of
> > production (assuming we still have the molds and that you as a group can
> > commit to the minimum aggregate purchase). We hope to begin this service
> > late this year or early in 2001.
> >
> > That's the news for now - we hope it is welcome. And we look forward to
> > bringing you much more of it in the months and years ahead.
> >
> > Play Well.
> >
> > -- Brad
> >
> > Brad Justus
> > Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
> > legodirect@lego.com
>
> --
> | Tom Stangl, Technical Support Netscape Communications Corp
> | Please do not associate my personal views with my employer
--
| Tom Stangl, Technical Support Netscape Communications Corp
| Please do not associate my personal views with my employer
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.lego.direct, Tom Stangl writes:
> And now that Brad's post is SIX weeks old, I'm wondering what timeline TLC
> exists on
I've been wondering what's going on for a few weeks now. Brad Justus has
said a lot of nice things, but so far it has been all talk and PR and no
(visible) results. We're still waiting for that list that was to be announced
in early May.
> > > · Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> > > elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> > > the first available elements will be published in early May.
Hey wait, isn't it June? It would be nice to hear SOMETHING at least every
week or so (meaning 7-10 days). At this point once a month would be an
improvement!
Ben Roller
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Dear Mr. Justus:
Thanks once again to you, and to TLG, for opening a line of communication with
your customers via LUGNET. As you are no doubt aware, you have many anxious
fans waiting to find out more about the Lego Direct bulk ordering service. (My
wallet stands ready.)
In lugnet.lego, somewhat over one month ago, you wrote:
> Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> the first available elements will be published in early May.
Are you able to share that list of "basic elements" with us yet? In what colors
will these elements be manufactured?
Best regards,
--
John J. Ladasky Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Structural Biology
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305
Secretary, Californians for Renewable Energy <http://www.calfree.com>
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In lugnet.lego.direct, John J. Ladasky, Jr. writes:
> Dear Mr. Justus:
>
> Thanks once again to you, and to TLG, for opening a line of communication
> with your customers via LUGNET. As you are no doubt aware, you have many
> anxious fans waiting to find out more about the Lego Direct bulk ordering
> service. (My wallet stands ready.)
>
> In lugnet.lego, somewhat over one month ago, you wrote:
>
> > Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> > elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> > the first available elements will be published in early May.
>
> Are you able to share that list of "basic elements" with us yet? In
> what colors will these elements be manufactured?
I took a stab at answering this with the following post.
http://www.lugnet.com/lego/direct/?n=57
I'd like to know, too, so I can highlight those elements selected for
production in my Lego Direct wants page
(http://home.xnet.com/~catena/ld_want.shtml).
(By the way, thanks to everyone for contributing so far! I have 70,885 pieces
requested, at an offered value of $6235!)
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Jason Catena writes:
> In lugnet.lego.direct, John J. Ladasky, Jr. writes:
> > Dear Mr. Justus:
> >
> > Thanks once again to you, and to TLG, for opening a line of communication
> > with your customers via LUGNET. As you are no doubt aware, you have many
> > anxious fans waiting to find out more about the Lego Direct bulk ordering
> > service. (My wallet stands ready.)
> >
> > In lugnet.lego, somewhat over one month ago, you wrote:
> >
> > > Initially, we will offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 "basic"
> > > elements (standard bricks, some tiles and plates, etc.). The list for
> > > the first available elements will be published in early May.
> >
> > Are you able to share that list of "basic elements" with us yet? In
> > what colors will these elements be manufactured?
>
> I took a stab at answering this with the following post.
> http://www.lugnet.com/lego/direct/?n=57
>
> I'd like to know, too, so I can highlight those elements selected for
> production in my Lego Direct wants page
> (http://home.xnet.com/~catena/ld_want.shtml).
I have contributed to Jason's excellent list. However, I didn't bother
sumbitting requests for elements that I assume will be standard. For example, I
could use a few hundred 1x1 plates in each of the standard colors. If we go by
what's available in sets, these won't be common or standard. I'd sure like to
know!
--
John J. Ladasky Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Structural Biology
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305
Secretary, Californians for Renewable Energy <http://www.calfree.com>
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| |
|
> > I'd like to know, too, so I can highlight those elements selected for
> > production in my Lego Direct wants page
> > (http://home.xnet.com/~catena/ld_want.shtml).
>
> I have contributed to Jason's excellent list. However, I didn't bother
> sumbitting requests for elements that I assume will be standard. For • example, I
> could use a few hundred 1x1 plates in each of the standard colors. If we go • by
> what's available in sets, these won't be common or standard. I'd sure like to
> know!
>
> --
> John J. Ladasky Jr., Ph.D.
> Department of Structural Biology
> Stanford University Medical Center
> Stanford, CA 94305
> Secretary, Californians for Renewable Energy <http://www.calfree.com>
I've also contributed to Jason's list, and think it's great. I didn't bother
to put all my "basic" part wants, because I assume they'll be standard issue-
type things. I DID, however, but down basic bricks in gray, because that's #1
priority to me. Other than that, it's all stuff I want them to issue later.
-Chris
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Chris Maddison writes:
[regarding Jason Catena's Lego Direct wants list]
> I've also contributed to Jason's list, and think it's great. I didn't bother
> to put all my "basic" part wants, because I assume they'll be standard issue-
> type things. I DID, however, but down basic bricks in gray, because that's #1
> priority to me. Other than that, it's all stuff I want them to issue later.
> -Chris
Ditto. I requested basic bricks in light gray and tan.
--
John J. Ladasky Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Structural Biology
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305
Secretary, Californians for Renewable Energy <http://www.calfree.com>
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
"John J. Ladasky Jr." wrote:
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Chris Maddison writes:
> [regarding Jason Catena's Lego Direct wants list]
> > I've also contributed to Jason's list, and think it's great. I didn't bother
> > to put all my "basic" part wants, because I assume they'll be standard issue-
> > type things. I DID, however, but down basic bricks in gray, because that's #1
> > priority to me. Other than that, it's all stuff I want them to issue later.
> > -Chris
>
> Ditto. I requested basic bricks in light gray and tan.
Same here. If I get enough in grey, who needs other colours anyhow? ;) I might
have a use for a little black and white, but not a lot. I tried to make my
contribution to Jason's list as complete as possible, but I keep thinking of things
I forgot...
best
Lindsay
(PS: John, are you at JHU yet? If so, you'll hopefully pop in at BrickFest since
it's sort of in the neighbourhood, over at George Mason U.)
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